after a 16 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa and then 1.5 hour flight from there to Maputo…….we are here!  we are 6 hours ahead of home.  looking forward to hanging out with some kids at the Masana tomorrow and then off to a beach village to hang out with 2 boys there.  praying that God will do whatever He wants.  praying for processing and lots of opportunities to love kids.  heard HiDef tore it up last night!  so blessed to have the leaders that we do!

more to come tomorrow…….may be some video.  praying for all of you!

love you fiercely!

the largest generation in history can change this culture from a self-serving culture to a selfless/Jesus focused culture.  i was thinking bout the headstart that we already have at The Vine and how blessed i am to be a part of it.  i think there are almost 15-16 youth from the HiDef Youth Ministry volunteering in Kidzu, our children’s ministry.  

the focus should be on giving this generation more leadership potential and encouragement by giving them more leadership responsibility with the guidance of spiritual fathers and mothers.  so what if they fail……we need to be teaching them that failure is an "okay option."  let me explain……if we want them to do more for the Kingdom than we ever did (which should be the goal); teach them that with Christ (in obedience to Him); there are no freaking limits.  and if we preprayer  and prepare for it and it doesn’t come to pass…..we HAVE to believe that God’s plan is better and celebrate the failure cause God is God and He knows what’s best.  praise Him for NOT allowing our plan to override His.  of course, always celebrating the victories.  there are just as many teaching opportunities (if not more) with the struggles/failures than the victories.  let them dream big dreams……equip them the best we know how (equip; NOT control….control breeds insecurities; more so in the one doing the controlling) and set them free to be who God has purposed them.  we (christian leaders) must believe Jeremiah 1:5 and 29:11.  

it is an extreme privilege to be in the trenches and doing life with this generation.  teenagers are the leaders of TODAY, of right NOW!  it wasn’t an hour after i had gotten home from our HiDef youth service Sunday night that I get a text from one of HD’s incredible student leaders saying that she had left a message to someone in her life that had hurt her and that she may have possibly hurt.  she apologized!

what if we all followed her lead?  what if we didn’t care whether we were right or wrong in a given disagreement that has turned ugly?  OR maybe it is just something that is so ridiculously blown out of proportion?   what if we were more concerned with how we have made the other person feel unloved or loved?  it does us no good to apologize and then go on thinking we were right the whole time because essentially an apology provides healing for the feeling and emotions caused by the offense.  so by apologizing with our mouths BUT our mindset doesn’t change, that just adds momentum to the bitterness in our heart towards that person and makes us disobedient to Christ.  and Jesus wants what is best for us……because He ultimately knows that unforgiveness is like us continuing to drink a poison expecting the other person to die. 

then, the next morning i hear how other students have done the same; one even asked them to come to a social event this saturday and church on sunday.  this is how we show the love of Christ  ……invite those that you don’t get along with into your social world before your churches……    

HELLO!  if we can invest in and love those whom we might have past issues with……how much easier will it be to invest and love those whom we don’t, but we see everyday.  KUDOS to these students!!!!

this is what i really love about this story……there was no message given Sunday night on forgiveness or unforgiveness.  it was about stepping out of the fear that the enemy uses to keep us from being obedient to Christ and stepping into the freedom of the resurrection of Christ.   

what is fear keeping you from doing that Christ wishes you would? 

let’s talk? 

hopefully, as i live my life and you get to know me (and especially for those who know me already), you will learn the meaning.  and if not, one of two things has happened……i have failed! OR you never knew me!  I’M PRAYING FOR NEITHER OF THOSE!

not sure how often i will get to update, but i’ll do what i can.  know this….there is something BIG bout to happen.

but for now, i’ll leave you with one of my favorite quotes, "if sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. and if they will perish, let them perish with our arms about their knees; imploring them to stay. if Hell must be filled, at least let it be filled with the teeth of our exertions, and let no one go there unwarned or unprayed for." ~ Charles Spurgeon